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titaniumlegz
Contributor
Contributor

vSphere Client console only showing part of VM screen

I saw a similar thread, but no answer that has helped.

ESXi6 build 2494585 / vCenter 6 build 3634793 Windows version

Web Client is borked due to DNS issue, and I'm trying to fix the AD/DNS server which is a VM on this ESXi under this vCenter.  When I open the console from the vSphere Client (non Web Client), I get the upper left part of the VM screen (see attached image), which makes it really hard to use the VM.  The slider bars don't actually do anything.  Tried resizing window, checking/unchecking autofit.  Fit Window / Guest seem greyed out.

vm_console_fragment.png

Happens on all the VMs I've tried, whether vSphere Client logged in to VC or ESXi.

Tried increasing video memory for the VM.  Installed VMware Tools on one VM that didn't have it.  (That's really fun when you can only see about 1/9th of the screen!)
I suspect video driver or something on my laptop, and gonna ask other on my team what they see, but wanted to hear if the mindshare here has seen similar.

Thanks!

Peter

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titaniumlegz
Contributor
Contributor

Another engineer just looked from his laptop and it's fine.  I RDP'd into a VM and ran vSphere Client from there and it's fine.  Something on my laptop or vSphere client installation. 

Ideas welcome!

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fortnafred
Contributor
Contributor

Greetings. Do you have Windows 10? I had this happen myself and for another coworker. we were able to fix it by disabling the DPI settings in the file properties.

To do this, right click on the shortcut and choose Properties (if you don't see this but instead see "open file location," click that and then right click -> "Properties" on the file from windows explorer)

From there, go to the Compatibility tab and check "Disable Display Scaling on high DPI settings"

Click OK and you should be good to go.

vmwaredpi.PNG

GIGILIO
Contributor
Contributor

thanks fortnafred I had the same problem with your suggestion I solved it

titaniumlegz
Contributor
Contributor

Ah, cool!

Sorry for not mentioning that it's Windows 10.

Your excellent suggestion fixed the console window perfectly, but broke the font scaling in the main vSphere Client window.  Looking in C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client and all the subfolders, I don't see a separate executable for the console vs. the main client.  Any idea how to fix the console and leave the main client as is?

It's possible this installation of Win10 and/or video driver is borked.  Some other apps don't scale right too.  Acrobat Pro 9 works perfectly, but Adobe Reader DC scales parts of the app too large.  A couple other apps microprint everything.

Thanks!

Peter

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fortnafred
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titaniumlegz‌ - Yes it did mess with the font scaling for me as well, but it didn't affect me too much, so I was hoping this wouldn't be the case for you.

This appeared to happen after the last large update to Windows 10. it might be a video driver. The machines that have run into this for my organization were an E5470, M4800, and M7510 so it's all over the place.

I think part of the problem is the apps themselves. they have to be able to handle the scaling of large resolution screens. You can always try to edit the DPI settings on those as well like we did for vCenter, but that's all I know at this time. Sorry I can't be of more assistance on that front, but perhaps

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GabeKTS
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Contributor

i had this same issue this morning and resolved it by rebooting my win10 pc interestingly.

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jbat66
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Contributor

The problem has to do with Windows 10 scaling and the vSphere remote console client. It needs fixed, but will not be fixed since everything is moving to the web. So another fix is in windows 10 (and 8.1 I believe) Right click your desktop and go to display settings. There is a “zoom slider” just under the pictures of the monitors. Set it to 100%. Fixed it for me.

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titaniumlegz
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Cool trick.  That "fixes" vSphere Client console, but makes pretty much every other app microprinted, at least on my laptop.

Thanks, maybe it will work better for others.

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hrebadi
Contributor
Contributor

Thank you this worked for me Smiley Happy

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jeffreykb
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Contributor

I have this same issue. The setting to "Disable Display Scaling on high DPI settings" did not work entirely for my laptop (4K display). With this setting, the console becomes usable, but the VM machines in the left hand pane are enlarged and overlap each other making it very difficult to see or click on one. Does anyone know how to fix this issue with the left hand pane (with VM machines) with the "Disable Display Scaling on high DPI settings" checked? Or another way to fix the console only showing part of the VM?

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cifcho
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THANK YOU !!!! Worked for me perfectly... I was trying to solve it all day.

Cheers!!!

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sephethus
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I have the same problem on my HP Elite Book Windows 10, I tried the DPI fix but it messes up the font scaling in the rest of vSphere. What's the deal here?

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nate009
Contributor
Contributor

very helpful, thank you!

I reposted this on my blog Smiley Happy

Appman - VSphere – Partially Black Screen on Windows 10

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